Rescuers find 5 survivors, search for 20 missing after Indonesia boat sinking
8 reported
Rescuers in Indonesia have found five survivors from a passenger boat that sank earlier in the week, and are searching for 20 other people still missing. The boat, KM Nurul Salsa, experienced engine failure and sank Wednesday about 43 nautical miles from the port in the Selayar Islands, South Sulawesi Province. The five survivors, including a 7-year-old girl, were found late Saturday afloat, clinging to a fish trap belonging to a local fisherman. At least one person is known to have died from the accident. The Makassar Search and Rescue Office previously reported the boat was carrying 74 people, but later raised the figure to 78 passengers and crew. The survivors, one man and four women, were evacuated by a fishing boat and taken to the port in Benteng town for health checkups and information gathering. Passenger boats are a common form of transportation in Indonesia, an archipelago with more than 17,000 islands, and lax safety standards and overcrowding frequently result in accidents.
What’s reported
Rescuers found five survivors, including a 7-year-old girl, from a passenger boat that sank earlier in the week.
The boat, KM Nurul Salsa, was carrying 78 passengers and crew.
It experienced engine failure and sank Wednesday about 43 nautical miles (79 kilometers) from the port in the Selayar Islands, South Sulawesi Province.
The five survivors were found late Saturday afloat, clinging to a fish trap belonging to a local fisherman.
At least one person is known to have died from the accident.
The Makassar Search and Rescue Office initially reported 74 people on board, but later raised the figure to 78.
The survivors, one man and four women, were evacuated by a fishing boat and taken to the port in Benteng town for health checkups and information gathering.
Passenger boats are a common form of transportation in Indonesia, and lax safety standards and overcrowding frequently result in accidents.
Key figures
Muhammad Arif Anwar, head of the Makassar Search and Rescue Office
Edna Tarigan, Associated Press journalist (contributor)
Sources: abcnews.com
